Idling

for saxophone quartet

ensemble saxophone quartet
duration 6 minutes
written Jan 2019

Program Note:

The music begins very simply with a basic idea that is repeated a multitude of times until outside pressure from the other instruments forces it to slowly change. Although modification happens, the music always contains elements of the basic ideas presented from the onset of the piece. After every section where the basic idea has been molded into something new, there follows a free-flowing section of contemplation, each successive occurrence of which becomes more and more obscure. The piece attempts to capture a sense of daydreaming through the constant transition between sections. Idling concludes after the last contemplative section, in which the music re-grounds itself and returns to a skewed, panicked version of the basic idea from the beginning, leaving the listener to question whether processes of forced change were beneficial or not to the piece overall.